The Hammer Regatta is a unique blend of athletics, music and art being held this Sunday at St. Ignatius’ Murphy Field House from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hammer has partnered with members of the Cleveland arts community that have been part of recent Ingenuity Festivals. The Hammer is free to attend, and if you decide to participate, your entry fee will go towards the Rivergate Park campaign fund. The Hammer is also serving as a fundraiser for a new home for rowing in Northeast Ohio as the current Cleveland Rowing Foundation boathouse location is currently within the planned footprint of a new casino complex.

The Hammer has also secured the services of Andrew Kaletta, director of lighting for Oberlin College’s theater department and technical lighting advisor to Morrison Dance. Andrew has been involved with many Ingenuity Festivals and his efforts will create a unique visual landscape for the Hammer. There will also be a DJ playing music that H.S. and college kids have requested when they registered for the Hammer. Each of the 26 competition ergs will be linked to a computer and large display screen, allowing spectators to view the race (typ. 8 minutes long) and position of individual participants as the race progresses. Hammer promoter Jim Ridge promises there is nothing quite like watching 4 kids tied with 500 meters to go sprinting for the finish line.

Also check out the ‘Hastily Made Hammer Promotional Video’. Hammer staff had a lot of fun making it as they are just a bunch of rowing fans that want to throw a fun indoor rowing party in February for their fellow Clevelanders. http://clevelandrows.org/2010HammerVideo.php

Please feel free to share this information with folks you think would be interested in this unique event, and I GREATLY appreciate you assistance in spreading the Hammerword. See you Sunday!

Ingenuity Talkback
Come hear what we’re planning and be heard about what you’d like to see…

If you’ve come to Ingenuity in the past or you’re just starting to get to know us, we’d like to hear more from you. There is a lot of excitement about Ingenuity 2010 with our move to the Veterans Memorial Bridge and to the Fall, but we want ideas from the entire community.

We’ll be presenting slides on success stories from the past and sharing our ideas from the future. If you’re a big fan of Ingenuity, bring a friend. If you’ve never been to the Festival but want to hear more, come along! We’re hoping for a spirit discussion and a chance to meet new friends.

Please RSVP by January 31 in the form below or call us at 216-589-9444

So the brand new Ingenuity T-shirt is up and for sale. The graphic was designed by David Jurca and Gauri Torgalkar and looks terrific. They’re available through the website Zazzle so there are dozens of sizes, colors and styles available.

Just a note on the price — basically we’re using Zazzle which allows us to have t-shirts printed on-demand so it’s always going to be a little bit more expensive that way. It saves the festival the overhead of pre-ordering a bunch of shirts and processing the orders. So think of the few extra bucks your paying as that much more time and effort we can put into putting on a great festival in 2010. Also, if you buy a bunch in bulk, you get a discount. Up to 30%. So if you have a lot of friends and you pool your money…

Also, buying one of these shirts supports the festival — not just with money, but with visibility. Buy one, look great wearing it, and wear it out around town. Or give it to someone who will. It’s a great way to be part of something good in Cleveland!